Strong demand and a larger fleet helped Lindblad Expeditions Holdings, Inc., the US based and listed expedition cruise operator, to significantly increase its first quarter profit, while the outlook remains encouraging.

The company reported a sharp increase in the first quarter net profit, to $10.9 million compared to a mere $0.6 million in the same period last year. Operating profit (EBIT) rose to $14.4 million from $1.4 million and revenues to $82.4 million from $63.1 million.

The company forecasts full year revenues in the bracket of $308 million to $315 million, a year on increase of 16% to 18%, while adjusted EBITDA should grow even faster, between 24% and 31% to the region of $54 million to $57 million.

Sven-Olof Lindblad, President and Chief Executive Officer, said "The strong financial results delivered by Lindblad during the first quarter are a continuation of the momentum we generated during the back half of 2017 and highlights the opportunity in front of us as we continue to add vessels to our fleet.”

“ The addition of the National Geographic Quest in July of 2017 expanded our capacity by approximately 15% and as we have increased inventory we have grown our net yields and maintained high occupancy levels. This highlights the demand from both our loyal customer base and a growing audience seeking authentic expedition travel,” he said in a statement. 

“Bookings during 2018 remain very strong, up 20% versus the same period a year ago, and we are seeing broad based demand for travel on our existing fleet, as well as for the additional two ships we will be adding over the next couple of years. The National Geographic Venture and the recently named National Geographic Endurance will further increase our capacity in high demand geographies and will provide the opportunity to build additional shareholder value in the years ahead,” Lindblad concluded.